list of notable recessions, financial crises, depressions and downturns. All dates are approximate as the recessions began and ended in different parts of the world at different times. Also note that before detailed economic statistics began to be gathered in the nineteenth century it was very difficult to tell when recessions occurred, but prior to industrialization economic downturns usually were caused by external actions on the economic system like wars and variations of the weather.

1795-1813 the government of the patrician oligarchies was overthrown and the old Republic ceased to exist. Soon the French were to occupy the country. During the period 1795-1813 Amsterdam suffered badly from economic recession, a state of affairs reflected by the stagnation of the demographic development. Many houses were vacant and some even collapsed for lack of maintenance. Fortunately some facades and interiors dating back to the Empire period survive today.

Panic of 1819 (1819 - 1824), the first major financial crisis in the USA.
Panic of 1837 (1837 - 1843), a sharp downturn in the American economy caused by bank failures and lack of confidence in the paper currency
Panic of 1857 (1857 - 1860), failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co. bursts a European speculative bubble in USA. railroads and loss of confidence in USA. banks
Panic of 1873 (1873 - 1879), economic problems in Europe prompt the failure of Jay Cooke & Company, the largest bank in the USA., bursting the post-Civil War speculative bubble
Long Depression (1873 - 1896), begins with the collapse of the Vienna Stock Exchange and spreads throughout the world. Some historians do not believe it is actually one large recession. It is important to note, during this period the global industrial production greatly increased. In the USA for example, industrial output increased 4 times.
Panic of 1893 (1893 - 1896), failure of the USA. Reading Railroad and withdrawal of European investment leads to a stock market and banking collapse
Panic of 1907 (1907 - 1908), begins with a run on Knickerbocker Trust Company stock October 22nd 1907 sets events in motion that will lead to a depression in the USA.
Post-WWI recession - marked by severe hyperinflation in Europe over production in North America. Very sharp, but also brief.
Great Depression (1929 to late 1930s, stock market crash, banking collapse in the USA sparks a global downturn, including a second downturn in the USA., the Recession of 1937. The phrase Black Tuesday refers to October 29, 1929, five days after the USA stock market crash of Black Thursday, when general panic set in that everyone with investments in the market tried to pull out of the market at once. This week and its aftermath marked the start of the Great Depression in the USA. While Black Tuesday is often cited as the worst day for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, in terms of percentage loss, the largest occurred on December 12, 1914 (after the outbreak of WWI and the subsequent five-month close of the market), while the greatest point loss occurred on September 17, 2001 (after 9/11 and the subsequent four-day close of the market).
1973 oil crisis - a quadrupuling of oil prices by OPEC coupled with high government spending due to the Vietnam War leads to stagflation in the USA.
1979 energy crisis - 1979 until 1980, the Iranian Revolution sharply increases the price of oil
Early 1980s recession - 1982 and 1983, caused by tight monetary policy in the USA. to control inflation and sharp correction to overproduction of the previous decade which had been masked by inflation
Great Commodities Depression - 1980 to 2000, general recession in commodity prices - Stopped by rise of China
Late 80s recession - 1988 to 1992, collapse of junk bonds and a sharp stock crash in the USA leads to a recession in much of the West. Black Monday is the name given to Monday, October 19, 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell dramatically, and on which similar enormous drops occurred across the world. By the end of October, stock markets in Hong Kong had fallen 45.8%, Australia 41.8%, the UK 26.4%, the US 22.6%, and Canada 22.5%. A lasting result of the recession was its impact on Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. More closely enmeshed in the world economy than ever before, teetering communist regimes may have been pushed "over the edge" by the recession of the late 80s, ending the Cold War.

The Russian recession 1991-1998 - Dependency on fuel and metals exports is traced to the practical disappearance of government defense expenditure and sharp decline in capital investment. The cumulative collapse of GDP during the seven years of the first period was 41.1 percent, or 7 percent annually on average. The deceleration inertia in the economy is explained by the persistent narrowness of the domestic market caused by the combination of low wages and skewed distribution of gross profit. Like the rest of the economy, the Russian agricultural sector experienced a long, severe recession in the 1990s. Even before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the output of grains and other crops began to decline, and it decreased steadily through 1996 because of the unavailability of fertilizers and other inputs, bad weather, and major readjustments during the period of transition. In 1995 overall agricultural production declined 8 percent, including a drop of 5 percent in crop production and 11 percent in livestock production. That year Russia suffered its worst grain harvest since 1963, with a yield of 63.5 million tons.

Japanese recession - 1991 to present, collapse of a real estate bubble and more fundamental problems halts Japan's once astronomical growth. These include significant and persistent decrease of land and stock prices, excessive debt of corporations, deterioration of banks' assets, contraction of credit typified by reluctance of banks to extend loans.

1992 Black Wednesday refers to September 16, 1992 when the Conservative government of the day was forced to withdraw the Pound from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. In 1997 the UK Treasury estimated the cost of Black Wednesday at £3.3 billion.
Asian financial crisis - 1997, collapse of Thai currency damage on many of the economies of Asia
Early 2000s recession - 2001 to 2003: collapse of the Dot Com Bubble, September 11th attacks and accounting scandals (example: Enron) , contribute to a contraction in the North American economy. Huge decline is share prices destroy private invested pensions for many.

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